Traction-engine



' (No Model.) 3 Sheets -Sheet 1..

P.-w. BOHN.

TRACTION ENGINE.

N0.'310,980. Patented'Jan. 20,1885.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

F. W. BOHN.

. TRACTION ENGINE.

No, 310,980. "Patented Jan. 20, 1885.

UNITE TATES AIENT rrrcn.

FREDERICK W. BOHN, OF VVABASHA, MINNESOTA.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,980, dated January 20, 1885.

Appication filed March 31, 1884.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. Bonn, acitizen of the United States, residing at Wahasha, in the county of VVabasha. and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'lraction-Engines; and I 7 do declare the following to be. a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the locomotion, guidance, and construction of tractionengines; and its objects are, first, to induce and regulate locomotion by means of a screw-traction; secondly. to guide the engine by means of atiller-wheel convenient to the hand of the engineer; and, thirdly, to elevate or depress the head of the boiler conformably to the contour of the ground upon which the engine is traveling, so as to keep the fire-tubes surrounded by water along their whole length.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like letters relate to like parts, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in perspective, of so much of a traction-engine as is required to illustrate my invention in a general way. Fig. 2 is a detached view of the steering apparatus. Fig. 3 is a detached viewof parts beneath the'boiler already shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a top interior perspective of some of the parts shown in Fig. 1. i

A. is a part of the main shaft of a traction- -engine, properly supported and journaled upon the boiler thereof, and provided with the bevel-wheel B, which by means of the groove 1) slides upon the key a, and may be held fast by an ordinary screw working through an eye in the hub of the wheel. This wheel engages, when so adj usted,with the pinion O, mounted upon the shaft D, which may be journaled to a bracket projecting from the main-shaft support on the boiler, and at its lower end maybe journaled in a box attached to the body ofthe engine. At the lower end of the shaft D is the screw F, the spirals of which engage with (No model.)

G, and so revolve the shaft H, which may be supported by journals projecting from theinterior wall of the firebox, or in any other convenient manner. This shaft carries (in addition to the wheel G) the pinions I, which engage with the cog-wheels K, formed upon.

the hubs of the driving-wheels of the engine, and so induce locomotion forward or backward, according to the direction given to the main shaft A. The direction and speed ofthe revolution of the drivingwheels depend upon the co-operation of the screw F and the wheel G, and it follows that no brake is necessary, but that slowing and stopping can be wholly managed by operating uponthe main shaft A. L is atilier-wheel with spool Z, supported by and rigidly attached to the shaft Z, which is jou'rnaled on the posts M M atthe front and upon the top of the fire-box. The wheel may be turned in either direction by an ordinary crank upon the shaft'or spokes upon the rim. A rope or chain, N, is wound from its middle .upon the spool I, and the two ends are conducted by guide-pulleys n n, on opposite sides of thebody of the engine, to theloop o,formed at the extremity of the hounds O, and there fastened. These hounds spread and run to the axle P, to which they are secured. By means of the collar 0" they slide upon and are supported by the bar R, which may be attached to the body of the engine by ordinary vertical arms. The axle P is provided with a pivot, 19, which passes through and is loosely bolted to the bow S, which is attached to the engine by the arms 38. By turning the wheel L in the proper direction the guiding-wheelsT of the engine are obliqued t0 the right or left, as desired, and the course of the engine changed accordingly. The arms 8 sof the bow S work through and project above cylinders s at tached to the boiler, so that the front part of the boiler may be elevated when the engine is proceeding down an incline anda proper water-level preserved to prevent burning of the fire-tubes which traverse the boiler.

The mechanism to elevate the boiler consists of the hand-lever U, pivoted to the lower part of one of the sides of the fire-box byan ordinary pivot-bolt passing through an eye the obliqued and beveled teeth of the wheel near the bottom of thelevcr. helever works between parallel bars of the ratchet V, and is held in place when adjusted by the springpawl v. The ratchet may be attached to the body of the engine by brackets, or in any other convenient manner. A connecting-rod, W, is attached adj ustably to the lever U by means ofasliding collar, to, and screw 20, and its other end is pivoted to the lever .10 of the roller-bar X, which is journaled in ordinary bearings supported by the body of the engine. ConveXed feet Y project downwardly from the roller-bar and rest in notches 8, formed in the upper surface of the bow S, whereby theboiler is supported upon the running-gear at any elevation attained by operating the lever U.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new and usefuLa-nd desire to se cure by Letters Patent, is the following:

'1. The combination, in atraetion-engine, of the main or driving shaft thereofwith the. key a, the bevelwheel B. the bevel-pinion C, the shaft D, the worm F, the gear-wheel G. the shaft H, the pinions l, and the cog-wl1eelK,all as hereinbefore described, for the purpose of communicating and regulating motion in and to the driving-wheels of such an engine, as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, in a traction engine,of the guide-wheels T, mounted upon an axle, P,

which turns upon a pivot, 12, the hounds O, uniting in a loop, 0, and provided with a collar, 0", the bar R, supporting said hounds,and the rope N, secured at both ends to said loop and guided by pulleys n to and Wound upon a Windlass, Z, attached to the tiller-wheel L, which is mounted in the ordinary manner upon an axle or shaft supported by andjournaled in suitable standards, whereby from the winding and unwinding of said rope upon said Windlass a turning motion is given to said guide-wheels, all as hereinbefore described.

3. In traction engines, the combination consisting of the hand-lever U, the ratchet V, the spring-pawl c, the connecting-rod \V,With the sliding collar 10 and screw w, the rollerbar'X, with lever 06, the 'CODVGXGd feet Y,and the bow S,with arms 8, cylinders s, and notches s, all as herein described, for the purpose of elevating and depressing the front end of the boiler to preserve a proper level of water with in the boiler when ascending or descending sloping ground.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK XV. BOHN.

Vitnesses:

R. A. BREITENFELDT, J. F. McGoVERN. 

